Winter of our Discontent
by MarshalZhukov
Summary: loosely picking up where "Two Officers for Christmas" left off, Aoi and Yoriko have reached the settling in phase and wonder where their relationship might be going. mild yuri.
1. Chapter 1

Winter of our Discontent

"Neh neh, Aoi-chan!"

Aoi Futaba looked across her desk to see her partner, Yoriko Nikaidou, flashing an impish grin. Aoi cocked an eyebrow at the meganekko.

'I am almost afraid to ask,' Aoi thought. Ever since Christmas dinner together, Yoriko had been rather…needy of late.

"Hai, Yoriko-san."

The impish grin widened by orders of magnitude to include teeth and accompanied the evil, conspiratorial laugh that usually came with a choice piece of gossip. The light reflected off her lenses to completely obscure her eyes, giving her the scary shiny glasses that rarely bode well for anyone.

'This is not going to end well,' Aoi sighed to herself. 'If this keeps up, I may end up sleeping on the couch-again.'

"I was thinking," Yoriko began. "We have not been to the onsen for some time."

"Is that _all _you were thinking?" Aoi asked suspiciously.

Feigning shock and hurt, Yoriko floridly placed her hand on her forehead and cried out in mock surprise.

"Aoi-chan! I am surprised and hurt that you would suspect only the worst!"

Laughter from the squad room as the other officers were dragged unceremoniously into their private world. Natsumi could barely contain a sustained outburst and instead tried laughing into her elbow. Miyuki, far more refined than her partner/lover, politely giggled into her hands while trying to avoid eye contact.

While it was no secret that Aoi and Yoriko were an item, Aoi, ever the consummate professional, would not allow her personal life to interfere with her duties. Yoriko, on the other hand, did not share the same attitudes.

There had been speculation concerning Aoi's 'preferences' since her arrival at Bokuto police station some years previous. That fact that everyone in the traffic department knew Aoi's gender history, but ultimately chose not to care did make for some uncomfortable moments in the beginning. Then there were the random unfortunates who stumbled upon Aoi's little secret…some were never quite right again. Still, Aoi's gender raised some questions tied to her preferences. When she and Yoriko began dating, most of the speculation died down.

Aoi had tried dating men, but always the sticky issue of her past came to light and she was left out in the cold. One young man seemed to almost work out, but he had mistaken Yoriko for Aoi in a photo sent via e-mail. When they finally met, the man was carrying a child and begged off saying he was no good for her. The issue of gender never even came up. Eventually, Aoi just gave up trying and threw all her energies into work, never realizing that a potential love interest sat right across her desk.

Yoriko always seemed to attract the strange ones. She met and assisted a young prince, but their worlds were too different and he ultimately chose to return home and restore his government. Never having viewed herself as anything other than the office nerd, Yoriko busied herself with other people's business. Yoriko sometimes wondered what lay behind Aoi's pretty green eyes and thick, dark curls. All the women in the precinct office were jealous of Aoi to one extent or another, Yoriko was no exception. Turns out there was love and deep compassion there.

"We were at the onsen just last year, Yoiko-san," Aoi sighed. She forsaw this becoming an expensive conversation. Traveling as a group, pooling funds and including station slush money was the only way any of the officers could afford to bunk off to the mountains and enjoy the pleasures on offer at an onsen.

"My point exactly, aijin," Yoriko said. "Last year. Twelve months, 365 days. Too long!"

Again the martyr pose. Yoriko was the master at eliciting sympathy by playing the victim.

A distinct clearing of the throat from Kachou brought everyone's attention face front.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Kachou said authoritatively over his newspaper. "I wonder what is happening out on the streets today. Would anyone be so kind as to go out there and find out for me?"

The hint well taken, Miyuki, Natsumi, Aoi and Yoriko all stood from their desks, saluted and walked out. They were followed shortly by Ken Nakajima and several motorcycle patrolmen.

Rendezvousing by the motor pool garage, each team split up to their respective vehicles and rolled out.

**A/N: I am not sure where I can go with this at the moment, but it seems like a good jump off point. Ideas, anyone?  
For those of you unfamiliar with Japanese:  
meganekko: lit. 'girl with glasses'  
Aijin: lit, 'love person' or lover.  
scary shiny glasses is referenced at TV Tropes  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Aoi remained silent during their patrol that morning. Yoriko tried several attempts at humor with no results. Pouting met with similar results. Any attempt at engaging her partner was met with unrelenting silence. Aoi would only speak when calling out parking violations, helping the neighborhood kids cross the streets and giving directions.

By the end of their shift, Yoriko was at wits end as to what she had done and how she could make it better. Aoi glanced up from her computer once in a while to see Yoriko staring back at her, the same pained look of frustration and sadness on her face. Aoi cocked an eyebrow and returned to work.

Silently, Yoriko stood from her workstation, walked around the row of desks and stood behind Aoi. Bending low, she whispered:

"Whatever it is I did, I am sorry."

"We shall continue this conversation after work, Yoriko-san," Aoi replied smoothly. Nothing in her voice signaled displeasure or coldness, simply the response of someone with a lot to do and little time to do it.

Witnessing the whole farce unfold, Miyuki and Natsumi shared uncomfortable glances. Both were so happy that Aoi and Yoriko had finally found someone. It would be a shame if a rift caused their work and love lives to suffer.

From bitter experience, Miyuki knew all too well that office morale suffers greatly when two partners allow a row to destroy a good working experience. It was only because they missed each other terribly and worked so well together that Natsumi came back to Miyuki and tearfully apologized. Unable to bear her partner's suffering any longer, Miyuki would take her back knowing that, while it would take time, each lesson would build on the previous and Natsumi would mature into the adult Miyuki saw in her eyes.

* * *

The end of the day could not come soon enough. Aoi's silent treatment was unusually protracted, even for someone who rarely gave voice to her own thoughts, let alone spoke out. Taking the concept of "ideal Japanese femininity" to its absurd, yet logical, conclusion, Aoi became the very embodiment of stereotypical womanhood. Still it was unnerving to watch Aoi simply ignore Yoriko as she had done. Even Kachou considered intervening, but Miyuki convinced him otherwise, saying this was a matter best settled between the two lovers. Kachou acquiesced to Miyuki's considerations with the understanding that he could not allow a lover's spat to influence and undermine office and department morale. If this kept up, he would pull the two of them aside and deal with things the way a proper leader should.

* * *

Yoriko preceded Aoi into the locker rooms and dressed to go home. Sitting in the lobby, she bid her good nights to her fellow officers and continued to wait.

Aoi strode into the lobby, her overcoat buttoned against the winter chill. Snow had been forecast that day and Aoi did not want to catch cold. Spotting Yoriko sitting on a couch, squirming uncomfortably, Aoi walked over, smiled warmly and sat next to her partner. Leaning in, Aoi gave Yoriko a light peck on the cheek.

In shock, Yoriko could only gape at the same person who, only minutes before had given her the silent treatment.

"Are you ready to go home, dearest?" Aoi asked. "Did you remember your gloves? I understand it is to be below freezing tonight. We would not want you getting sick."

"A-ano, I don't…wait, what?" Yoriko stammered. "I thought you were angry with me."

"I was," Aoi responded. "Mostly, I was angry that our personal lives were brought into the squad room."

Yoriko continued to gape in surprise. Aoi reached over and gently lifted Yoriko's jaw closed with her index finger.

"I don't mind that our co-workers know about us, but I would prefer that what we do and where we go after work remains between us. Can you agree to that?"

Yoriko slowly nodded her head. Aoi smiled sweetly, stood up and proffered her hand.

"So, shall we?"

Yoriko took her lover's hand and stood.

"Are we okay?" she asked. Aoi looked at her lover and nodded serenely.

"Now then," Aoi said. "Shall we meet up with Miyuki-san and Natsumi-san for teppan yaki?"

Yoriko nodded as the two walked out of the main lobby arm in arm, bundled against the cold.

**A/N: hmmmm. oh, well, as a throw away story, not bad.**


End file.
